Horsham, Pa. – Over the Memorial Day weekend, The Ukrainian American Sport Center – “Tryzub”, County Line and Lower State Roads, hosted its ninth annual Ukrainian Nationals Soccer Tournament. Teams from throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and five other Mid-Atlantic States entered the competition.

Tournament play in age brackets from Under-8 through Under-19, boys and girls, progressed over the weekend on not only the Ukrainian Nationals’ six home fields at “Tryzubiwka”, but also on many more pitches located at Zehr (Montgomery Soccer Club’s home) Igoe Porter Wellings (Nike) (Warrington Soccer Club’s home).; Kohler, Turk and Windlestrae Park fields. The tournament play coordinators used a total of twenty-two fields.

The competition began on Friday night under the lights of two Tryzubiwka fields, progressed throughout the day on Saturday and culminated in a long sequence of “finals” on Sunday. A soccer Mom’s and Dad’s appreciation night featuring a popular traditional Rock Band and the big screen airing of the opening game of the Philadelphia Flyers’ Stanley Cup final series against the Chicago Blackhawks also highlighted the event. Hundreds of parents and competitors gathered in the Ukrainian American Sport Center’s clubhouse and lighted festival grove and pavilions.

The manager of a powerful team from the State of Maryland stated , “We have been to well known tournaments throughout the United States and Canada … North Carolina, Texas, Toronto, Florida, West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio … We all agree that this is the best tournament that we have ever seen. The fields, facilities, competition, food, officiating and everything were excellent. I don’t know how anyone could ever match your hospitality … the people were great.”

All of the finals matches took place at Tryzubiwka. UASC Tryzub’s Vice President, Eugene A. Luciw, JD, presented the champions and finalists with trophies, emphasizing the Club’s Ukrainian roots, explaining the deep symbolism of the Ukrainian Tryzub that the awards featured.

Tryzub’s Ukrainian Nationals fared quite well in the competition that included a number of premier, select and regional all-star teams. The Ukrainian Nationals won 7 championships and reached the finals 2 more times. The tournament results are as follows:

Legend:
PK = won championship on penalty kicks after overtime
OT = won championship in sudden death overtime